Commission approves $72,917 payment to Handley Center after failed motion to table

The Lead City Commission on June 15 approved a funding request of $72,917 to cover the Handley Center's remainder-of-year needs.

Commissioner Dory Hanson moved and Commissioner Robert Carr seconded the motion to approve the request; the minutes record the motion as carried. During discussion, attendee Darla Auld asked for assurance that private documents would remain confidential and sought clarification on multiple items; Mayor Dustin Heupel replied that no records would be taken from the Handley Center. Heupel also asked whether the Handley Center had other funding sources available; Auld said the center had been operating under the assumption the city would take over the facility by this time. Commissioner Roger Thomas said the Handley Center knew its funding would end and had not sought alternative funding sources, and he indicated he was not in favor of the request.

Commissioner Hanson then moved to amend her motion to table the funding request until current financial statements and a revised funding request were provided; Commissioner Carr seconded the amendment. The amendment to table the request received two aye votes (Hanson and Carr) and three nay votes (Mayor Heupel, Commissioners Thomas and Rohrer) and failed, leaving the original approval in place. The minutes do not record further conditions attached to the funding or additional documentation being provided at the meeting.